Still, even at the upper echelon of MMA, injuries arise, fighters
lose form and defeats pile up. Releases sometimes follow. Exciting
new prospects are always in demand to give stale divisions
much-needed shots in the arm and comfortable, content contenders
firm kicks in the butt. With the sport extending its global reach,
it should come as no surprise that fast-rising young talent --
think Dustin
Kimura, Hyun Gyu
Lim and Conor
McGregor -- continues to come forth from the four corners of
the earth. Plenty of matches in May shine the spotlight on more of
it.

As always, the list does not focus on the well-promoted main event
bouts from major organizations you already know to watch, but
rather on fights from all over the planet that are worth seeing.
UFC and Bellator
MMA cards are excluded by design.

Famed German football coach Otto Rehhagel once said, “There are no
young or old players, just good and bad ones.” The same can be
applied to fighting. Because UFC hall of famer Randy
Couture made a living beating up opponents half his age, we all
know age is just a number. Japan’s Ueda has come into his own since
being on the wrong side of 30, as well. The Paraestra Tokyo-trained
wrestler has won seven of his last eight matches and will now face
Wushu stylist Belingon in the final of the
One Fighting Championship bantamweight grand prix. The winner
meets champion Soo Chul
Kim in the fall. The One FC Undercard will stream live and free
on Sherdog.

Cage featherweight champion Niinimaki has been considered a top 10
featherweight in Europe for years. The 30-year-old all-around
fighter has put together an impressive unbeaten run that spans nine
fights and almost six years. Will win number 10 finally push the
Finnish export over the edge and into the world-famous Octagon?
Chicago’s Beebe has been there and done that, albeit in the smaller
World Extreme Cagefighting cage. The 28-year-old wrestler held
the WEC title for almost a year before losing it to Miguel
Torres.

The odyssey of “Slava” Vasilevsky has come to an end. After a short
side trip to Bellator last year, the former M-1 Global
light heavyweight champion returns to the promotion that made him a
star in Russia. A lawsuit in front of a Dutch court convinced the
fighter that it was probably the smartest decision to fulfill his
existing contract before taking on other challenges. In his first
fight back, the 24-year-old judoka will face Andrade. The
31-year-old Brazilian has already choked out Vasilevsky’s
compatriots, Shamil
Abdulmuslimov and Abdul-Kerim
Edilov, this year.

In this month’s featured female fight, Sugiyama will put her Jewels
105-pound title on the line against Korean kickboxer Ham. “Sugi
Rock” had a rough time in her past two battles, as she was
submitted by Jessica
Penne for the
Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight strap and then lost a
unanimous decision to resurgent Norwegian Celine Haga.
The title defense against the “Korean Wanderlei” will be a true
test to see whether or not she is made of stern stuff. Ham is
dropping down from 115 pounds and undoubtedly looking to bully the
diminutive Sugiyama.

Solid heavyweight action will headline the second
Maximum Fighting Championship event of the year, as Florida’s
Barnett takes on the undefeated Rama. “The Prince” turned more than
a few heads when he knocked out Mike
Hackert at MFC 36 February. In Barnett, he faces an even bigger
test. At 5-foot-9 and 265 pounds, the “Beast Boy” is more than a
handful for anybody. The 26-year-old holds impressive knockout wins
over longtime M-1 champion Kenny
Garner and Mario
Rinaldi.

Makovsky was one of the stars for Bellator during the pre-Viacom
era. However, back-to-back defeats to hugely talented Brazilian
Eduardo
Dantas and Strikeforce veteran Anthony
Leone suddenly saw “Fun Size” out of a job with the promotion.
In his first fight back, the 30-year-old submission fighter takes
on fellow Bellator alum Claudio
Ledesma under the
Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner. The Renzo Gracie
product has won four of his last five fights on points, the only
blemish a close decision loss to the aforementioned Leone.

Ishii has managed to turn around his MMA career with three solid
wins over Tim Sylvia,
Sean
McCorkle and Kerry Schall
this year. Continuing to stay busy under the IGF banner, the 2008
Olympic gold medalist will next take on three-time UFC heavyweight
title contender Pedro Rizzo.
The Brazilian lasted even less time than Ishii against Fedor
Emelianenko, as he succumbed to blows from “The Last Emperor”
in the Russian great’s retirement fight in June. It makes perfect
sense for these two to fight each other now.

A finalist on Season 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Taylor has found
a fighting home with the
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship promotion in Europe and the
Middle East. While he did not manage to win the organization’s
welterweight title against Frenchman Gael
Grimaud, he fared much better in a middleweight contest against
Chris Field on New Year’s Eve. In his first title defense, he now
takes on hard-hitting Welshman Phillips. “The White Mike Tyson” has
won two of his three CWFC fights and has even started to show a
nice little submission game lately.

One of the last legends of the vale tudo age who remain active
today, Patino made his name fighting in memorable wars with the
likes of Jose
Landi-Jons in the 1990s. Still enjoying himself at age 39, the
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has gone undefeated in his last
seven fights. Looking to break that streak is “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 8 winner Escudero. Twelve years Patino’s junior,
the Arizonan is relying on his strong wrestling game to get the job
done in his bouts.

Southeast Asia’s PXC promotion has been on fire of late, putting on
one meaningful fight after the next. That is why it comes as little
surprise that longtime PXC stars Kimura, Lim and Jon Tuck have
been drafted to the UFC. Two others looking to make the jump to the
Octagon are undefeated Filipino Striegl and Shooto Pacific
Rim lightweight champion Yachi. “Mugen” is dangerous on the ground,
having taken 10 of his 12 career wins by submission, while Yachi is
an explosive striker from Norifumi
Yamamoto’s Krazy Bee camp.

Follow Tim Leidecker on Twitter at @TimLeidecker or contact him
at www.facebook.com/Rossonero1.